Dolphins No Pushover; 4 Starters Miss Practice Again

Matt Moore leads the Dolphins into Cowboys Stadium Thursday for Thanksgiving football

It’s turkey week once again, and that means a short week for your Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys, coming off a tight win against the Redskins will have a quick turnaround against the Dolphins on Thursday. The short week may have come at a good time with the team riding high.

While the Cowboys have been on a nice 3-game winning streak, the Dolphins have also been quietly putting together a nice streak of their own. Miami started the season 0-7, but since have gone 3-0 and have outscored their opponents 86-20 in that span. Granted, the wins came against Kansas City, Washington and Buffalo, teams that have a combined 12-17 record.

On a short week, the Cowboys cannot afford to overlook the upstart Dolphins. Dolphins quarterback Matt Moore won’t scare anyone, but he has been very efficient in managing the game the last three weeks. The Dolphins have also found a running game with RB Reggie Bush. Bush has run the ball 42 times the last three weeks for 171 yards, but he has 4 touchdowns on the ground. Toss in his 90 yards receiving and Bush is poised to take advantage of the Cowboys interior linebackers. Don’t forget the Dolphins also have Brandon Marshall on the outside. Marshall may not be finding the end zone like he’s used to, he does have 54 receptions on the year, and he presents a huge matchup problem for the Cowboys smaller corners. Marshall has a unique blend of size and speed, if his head is in the game Thursday, the Cowboys will have to be on their game defensively.

For the fans like me who think we should just pound the ball with DeMarco Murray and let the Boys run wild, keep in mind that, while Miami has the 16th ranked defense, they are ranked 7th against the run. That is a defense that has had most offences running the ball late in the game against them. The Dolphins front seven are very good. Nose tackle Paul Soliai, is a 355 lbs. anchor on that defense who allows his great group of linebackers to flow to the ball.

If the Cowboys are going to win, they will likely need to rely on the arm of Tony Romo once again. Romo is coming off a great three game stretch where he has been very smart with the ball, but also lethal when it matters.

In a season where the Cowboys have been a bit of a roller coaster, we are reminded that every game is a fight, and this game this week will be no different.

Injury Update

Tony Fiametta, Miles Austin, Mike Jenkins and Gerald Sensabaugh all missed practice again Tuesday, leaving their statuses for Thursday in doubt.